Monday December 7 - Vancouver Canucks 5 - Buffalo Sabres 2
The Vancouver Canucks were finally able to take advantage of a tired opponent playing back-to-back games when they laid down a convincing 5-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres on a night where fans paid tribute to the West Coast Express line.
Here are your highlights:
Teams are so bunched up in the Pacific Division standings that the win vaulted Vancouver over both Anaheim and Arizona, back into third place and a playoff spot—though the other teams have games in hand. This, I think, is how it's gonna go for the rest of the season.
The game was not a gimme by any stretch of the imagination. The Sabres opened the scoring at the 6:48 mark of the first period on a reviewed goal after Brian Gionta batted the puck past Ryan Miller, baseball style. It looked like it could have been a high stick, but Gionta is listed at 5'7"—a stick approaching shoulder height on him can still be well below the crossbar.
Later in the first, the Canucks had a goal waved off when it was ruled that the referee intended to blow the whistle when he lost sight of the puck.
But by the end of the opening frame, the Canucks had a 2-1 lead thanks to Radim Vrbata, who finally got things trending in his direction after being woefully unlucky for most of the season. "How You Like Me Now?" indeed!
The Canucks also outshot Buffalo 11-9 in the first and—get this—hit double-digits in shots in all three periods! What a refreshing change from the last three games we've watched.
Vrbata led the way with six shots, followed by Chris Higgins with four. Higgy's assist on Vrbata's first goal was his first of the season—and just his third point. He may have played his best game of the season, and we finally saw some chemistry between him, Vrbata and Jared McCann.
Also—thumbs-up to Alex Biega, who finished the night with two shots, three hits, two blocks and a plus-two, and to Ben Hutton, who had three shots, two hits, two blocks and an assist for his night's work. For my money, the Vancouver defense is markedly better with those two on the blue line.
Yannick Weber wasn't missed on the power play, either. Henrik Sedin picked up a goal with the man advantage in the second period, but they were dangerous all night, moving well and showing plenty of different looks during six opportunities.
Granted, Buffalo's PK is ranked 28th in the league. Still, it looked like a step in the right direction.
We learned a new goal song when Brandon Prust scored his first as a Canuck on a strong shift from the fourth line at the 4:34 mark of the second period.
I was a little worried that Prust was going full Britney Spears when he showed up for warmup with a brand new buzz cut, but the look seemed to work for him.
Appropriately at this juncture, I think, Prust gives some credit for his two-point night to Todd Bertuzzi.
There was a warm feeling of redemption at the Rog last night as prodigal son Bertuzzi returned to the scene of the biggest highs—and lows—of his hockey career.
Bert got the biggest cheer, by far, when the three members of the West Coast Express line were introduced before the game. For the first time, it seemed like both he and the fans were able to see through the shadow of the Steve Moore incident and remember the high-octane hockey that Bertuzzi, Naslund and Morrison were playing during the heart of the Dead Puck Era.
A certain aura of wistfulness still lingered. For all their successes, the Canucks only won one playoff series during that era. Brendan Morrison also brought up the disappointment of not being able to help Markus Naslund win the scoring title in 2002-03, the year he was voted the NHL's MVP by the players and received the Ted Lindsay Award.
Naslund finished two points behind Peter Forsberg with 104 points after Forsberg laid down a three-point performance in his last game of the season. Naslund went pointless in his last game after having piled up 11 points in his previous seven outings.
The West Coast Express arrived like a freight train, and fizzled out pretty fast. It's a bit strange to realize that even as we celebrate memories that are more than a decade old, Naslund, Bertuzzi and Morrison are all younger than Jaromir Jagr, who keeps truckin' along in today's NHL.
I can't help thinking that their visit helped the team get the monkey off its back last night. I hope we see all three of them around the organization with some regularity going forward.
For all the talk of cheap seats being available for Monday's game, the arena was pretty full and the vibe was pretty good. Attendance was listed at 18,278 and the crowd was engaged all night, starting from a hearty "Ref, you suck!" chant after Gionta's first-period goal was allowed to stand.
And boy, did they deliver with the hats when Vrbata got this third of the night with 5:32 left on the clock!
The Canucks heard the suggestion that Daniel's one-hat hat trick was partly a result of hats being too expensive. They've decided to turn the situation into a marketing opportunity.
So, for today, the Auston Mathews watch is on hold and everything seems just a little bit brighter in Canuck-ville.
The team is enjoying a day off today, and will finish off the current homestand on Wednesday night against Alain Vigneault and the New York Rangers.
World Juniors Update
To wrap up today, a quick look at Canucks prospects who are heading to the World Junior championship in Helsinki this Christmas.
The Canucks have until December 19 to decide whether or not they want to send Jared McCann and/or Jake Virtanen to Team Canada.
On Monday,
Team USA announced its 29-man preliminary roster. No surprise to see Brock Boeser on the list—he's having an excellent freshman season at the University of North Dakota.
In case you were wondering, today is Thatcher Demko's 20th birthday. That makes him 24 days too old to participate this year's tournament.
Also, the
Czech preliminary roster includes right wing Lukas Jasek, who was selected in the sixth round by the Canucks last June. Jasek showed well during the summer exhibition series, but has just two points in 12 games with Trinec Ocelari of the Czech league so far this season. Jasek has a very late birthday—doesn't turn 19 until next August 28—so there's still plenty of time for him to develop.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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